Cohn & Wolfe expands corporate practice with senior hires

NEW YORK: Cohn & Wolfe has hired Kristin Sadlon and Russ Williams as SVP of corporate and SVP of crisis and issues management, respectively. Both are new roles at the agency.

Sadlon joined the firm from Porter Novelli, where she served as SVP of corporate reputation and worked with clients such as Monster Worldwide, Invesco PowerShares Capital Management, and Reckitt Benckiser. She worked at Porter for nine years.

Based in New York, Sadlon will specialize in corporate and financial communications.

Williams, who will be based in C&W's Atlanta office, most recently served as SVP at Hayslett Group, where he worked for six years. He has also served as national spokesperson for Delta Air Lines and director of media relations at AGL Resources.

The firm is working on more corporate accounts that extend beyond traditional communications than it did in the past, said Michael Bayer, head of US corporate at Cohn & Wolfe.

"The boundaries between marketing and communications are blurring," he continued. "We have these great client relationships that basically feel that we are their trusted advisors and ask us to do things, whether it's our team doing it or if they want us to find a subcontractors."

Bayer declined to comment on specific new business, but he said the agency is advising a client during a rebranding process. Other work includes corporate branding, issues management, and employee communications.

With the addition of Sadlon and Williams, Cohn & Wolfe's corporate team has about 25 members.